AP Biology Reading Guide Chapter 33: Invertebrates

Fred and Theresa Holtzclaw

Name _______________________ Period ___________

Chapter 33: Invertebrates

Chapters 31, 32, and 33 should be considered as a single unit, and you should try to put all of them
together in a single conceptual framework. Due to the scope of our course, you are likely to see more
general questions on individual phyla. For each of the phyla that we highlight in the questions that
follow, try to know the characters that are unique to that group, and focus on the evolution of various
systems. So they have time to teach the more difficult molecular concepts, many teachers choose to
have students learn this unit on their own. Our goal here is to focus your time and energy on what we
have seen to be commonly asked information. At the end of this Reading Guide chapter, you will find
a chart that may help you to organize this knowledge.

Concept 33.1 Sponges are basal animals that lack true tissues

1. You may have learned in an earlier course that sponges are in the phylum Porifera. This group
is now known to be polyphyletic, and all sponges belong to either phylum Calcarea or phylum
Silicea. They are the simplest animals and lack true tissues.

Label the following: pores, spongocoel, epidermis, amoebocytes, choanocyte, flagellum,

spicules, epidermis, and mesohyl.

On this sketch of a typical sponge, explain how water flows through the body of a sponge, and
describe how it obtains food.

2. What is the feeding method of a sponge?

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AP Biology Reading Guide Chapter 33: Invertebrates
Fred and Theresa Holtzclaw

3. Go back to the labels you applied to the figure above, and explain or define each term:
osculum, spongocoel, epidermis, pore, mesohyl, amoebocyte, choanocyte, spicules.

4. Most sponges are hermaphrodites. What does this mean?

5. Go to the chart at the end of this Reading Guide. Consider that the sponges have only two cell
layers, and both are in contact with the surrounding medium. They have no specialized tissues,
and therefore no organs. This will help you explain how a sponge obtains oxygen or gets rid of
wastes. Fill in the chart for sponges.

Concept 33.2 Cnidarians are an ancient phylum of eumetazoans

6. Sketch the polyp form of a cnidarian and add these labels: gastrovascular cavity, mouth/anus,
epidermis, gastrodermis, tentacle, mesoglea, and gastrovascular cavity.

7. Cnidarians are diploblastic and have radial symmetry. Use your sketch above to explain what
this means.

8. If you flip the polyp form, squish it a bit, and give it a floatation device,
you will have the body form of a jellyfish. What is this body form
called?

9. What are nematocysts, and how do they help a cnidarian obtain its food?

10. Read the rest of this concept carefully to complete the chart at the end. What is the nervous
system of a cnidarian? Do they have a brain?

11. What is the “skeleton” of a cnidarian? Check the glossary to explain how this type of skeleton
works.

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AP Biology Reading Guide Chapter 33: Invertebrates
Fred and Theresa Holtzclaw

Concept 33.3 Lophotrochozoans, a clade identified by molecular data, have the widest range of
animal body forms

You may breathe a sigh of relief to know that we are going to condense this section and look at only
three phyla: Platyhelminthes, Mollusca, and Annelida.

12. Platyhelminthes means “flatworm,” which describes the shape of these worms. This is the first
phylum we are studying that is triploblastic. This group is acoelomate, a term you learned in
the last chapter. It is the only acoelomate group we will study, so be sure to know this. As you
read this paragraph, complete the line on the chart for Platyhelminthes at the end of this
Reading Guide. Remember that if there is no specialized system for gas exchange, for example,
then it occurs by diffusion, and this is what you should write in the chart.

13. Excretion is not just a polite word for defecation; instead, it refers to the elimination of
nitrogenous waste. Your primary nitrogenous waste is urine, produced by the kidneys. What
specialized organ do flatworms have to manage water balance and nitrogenous wastes?

Include this information on the chart at the end of this Reading Guide.

14. Focus on the three classes of Platyhelminthes listed below to complete this chart.

Class Example(s) Features to Note

Turbellaria

Trematoda

Cestoda

15. Planaria are the only free-living (not parasitic) examples from the chart above. Notice the
presence of eyespots and ganglia in the Planaria. Label them. This is the first group we see
with bilateral symmetry and sense organs concentrated at the anterior end. What is the term for
this move toward having a “head” where sense organs and brain are concentrated? (See Chapter
32 if you have forgotten.)

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AP Biology Reading Guide Chapter 33: Invertebrates
Fred and Theresa Holtzclaw

16. Label the mouth in the Planaria. Where do wastes leave? The digestive system seen here is
sometimes called two-way. Why?

17. Parasitic worms often have complex life cycles involving multiple hosts. Sketch the life cycle
of a blood fluke.

18. Look at the evil head of a tapeworm! How do they

attach to the gut of the host? This is another worm
with a complex life cycle. How might you get a
tapeworm?

19. Tapeworms have no digestive system. Why not?

20. Here are some important features of animals in the phylum Mollusca. Explain each one.

muscular foot

visceral mass

mantle

radula

21. You are familiar with many molluscs. Give the key features of each class, and provide an
example.
Class Key Features Example

Polyplacophora

Gastropoda

Bivalvia

Cephalopoda

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AP Biology Reading Guide Chapter 33: Invertebrates
Fred and Theresa Holtzclaw

22. The last phylum in this concept is Annelida. This group is sometimes called the segmented
worms because of its visible rings. There are three classes. Give the information for each class
in the chart that follows.

Class Key Features Examples

Oligochaeta

Polychaeta

Hirudinea

23. Many students dissect an earthworm in introductory biology, and all of us have seen living
earthworms (much more interesting). Study the figure of an earthworm, and be familiar with
these features:

clitellum

ventral nerve cord

crop/gizzard

metanephridia

chaetae

24. Both molluscs and annelids have a true coelom. Refer to Chapter 32, and define coelom again.

Concept 33.4 Ecdysozoans are the most species-rich animal group

25. What do the root words that name this group mean?

ecdyso–

–zoan

26. Phylum Nematoda includes the worms we often call roundworms. Their bodies are cylindrical,
unlike those of the flatworms, and lack segmentation. What makes up the body covering of a
nematode?

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AP Biology Reading Guide Chapter 33: Invertebrates
Fred and Theresa Holtzclaw

27. Caenorhabditis elegans is a model research organism and is widely studied. It is an example of
a free-living nematode. Some interesting parasitic nematodes include the human parasites
pinworms, hookworms, and Trichinella. How does this last parasite work? Note that its life
cycle involves more than one host.

28. What does the phylum name Arthropoda mean?

29. The ecdysozoans are a huge group, but members have some common features. What is the
body covering? What molecule is it made of?

30. The only way an arthropod can grow is to shed its chitinous exoskeleton. What is this shedding
process called?

31. Describe the circulatory system of arthropods. Note that most molluscs have a similar type of
circulatory system.

32. Let’s focus on some specific groups. How many legs do arachnids have?

33. What are three examples of arachnids?

34. Millipedes and centipedes are placed in the subphylum Myriapoda, which means “many legs.”
Complete the following chart.

Class Example Legs per Segment Diet

Millipedes

Centipedes

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AP Biology Reading Guide Chapter 33: Invertebrates
Fred and Theresa Holtzclaw

35. For the class Insecta, how many legs do all members have?

36. What are the three body regions of insects?

37. Insects show two types of metamorphosis. Explain each type.

incomplete metamorphosis

complete metamorphosis

38. Crustaceans are primarily aquatic and have many pairs of appendages. How many appendages
does a lobster have?

39. What specialized respiratory structures do many crustaceans have?

40. Complete this chart to summarize the different groups of arthropods.

Group # of Appendages Respiratory Organs Examples

Arachnids

Insects

Crustaceans

Concept 33.5 Echinoderms and chordates are deuterostomes

41. What does the phylum name, Echinodermata, mean?

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AP Biology Reading Guide Chapter 33: Invertebrates
Fred and Theresa Holtzclaw

42. Besides a spiny skin, echinoderms have a water vascular system with tube feet. Label the
features of the water vascular system on the following sketch, and explain how the system
works.

43. As adults, many echinoderms appear to have radial symmetry, but their larval stage is
bilateral. This is an important feature to note. As you read this section, what other interesting
facts do you find about members of this group?

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AP Biology Reading Guide Chapter 33: Invertebrates
Fred and Theresa Holtzclaw

44. Let’s go back and look at phylogeny. Use the chart copied below from Chapter 32 to explain
the key feature that separates each of the following groups:

“Porifera” from all other groups

Cnidaria from all other groups

Protostomes from deuterostomes (Which are the only two deuterostome groups?)

Platyhelminthes from other protostomes

Annelids and arthropods from nematodes

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AP Biology Reading Guide Chapter 33: Invertebrates
Fred and Theresa Holtzclaw

Now you should be ready to test your knowledge. Place your answers here:
Testing Your Knowledge: Self-Quiz Answers

1._______ 2._______ 3.________ 4.________ 5._________ 6.________

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AP Biology Reading Guide Chapter 33: Invertebrates
Fred and Theresa Holtzclaw

A COMPARISON OF IMPORTANT FEATURES OF SELECTED ANIMAL PHYLA

PHYLUM Examples Unique Circulatory Respiratory Nervous Excretory Digestive
Features
Calcarea/
Silicea

Cnidaria

Platyhelminthes

Nematoda

Mollusca

Annelida

Arthropoda

Echinodermata

Chordata

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